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Westbrook wins pole for Spirit of Daytona at Barber

March 29, 2012

Richard Westbrook piloted the No. 90 Corvette Daytona Prototype to his first career pole. He will be the lead driver in Saturday’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Spirit of Daytona driver Richard Westbrook on Friday saved his best for last during qualifying for Saturday’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. The No. 90 Corvette Daytona Prototype racer captured his first career Rolex Series pole on his final lap with a time of 1 minute, 21.420 seconds (101.695 mph).

Westbrook supplanted Jon Fogarty and brought the new Corvette DP program its first Rolex Series pole position. In fact, Corvette DPs swept the top three positions in qualifying.

“[The car] is an absolute joy to drive,” Westbrook said. “The aero on the car is absolutely unbelievable. It’s still a very new car, and it’s going to get better.

“The competition here is very, very strong; there’s a lot of quality. I’m new to this format and I’ve got a lot to learn, but it’s a good place to start, that’s for sure.”

Fogarty, meanwhile, was looking to add to his Rolex Series-leading 19 career poles in the No. 99 Gainsco Auto Insurance Corvette DP with a lap of 1:21.494 (101.603 mph) but wound up second. David Donohue will start third in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP with a best lap of 1:22.379 (100.511 mph).

In the GT class, Paul Edwards almost missed qualifying after crashing the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro GT.R during morning practice. However, his team repaired the front-end damage, allowing him to participate in qualifying--and he paid back the crew’s hard work by winning his eighth career pole with a lap of 1:30.762 (91.228 mph).

Emil Assentato joins Edwards on the GT front row after a lap of 1:30.985 (91.004 mph) in the No. 69 FXDD Ferrari 458 Italia Grand-Am. This will be Assentato’s first front-row start in the Rolex Series.

In qualifying for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Lawson Aschenbach captured his first career pole with a lap of 1:36.401 (85.891 mph) in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro GS.R. In Street Tuner, Andy Lally captured his second-consecutive pole with a lap of 1:41.374 (81.678 mph) in the No. 10 Kia of America Kia Forte Koup.

The Rolex Series Porsche 250 takes the green flag at 1:15 p.m. Eastern on Saturday and will be broadcast on Speed TV at 4 p.m.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Barber 200 begins at 5 p.m. Saturday and will be shown on Speed at noon on April 8.